Tears in the Darkness
by Charlene Heo
Summary: Joey's nightmare with his father is officially over... only to have another one begin. His eyes are failing him. In the short amount of time he has left of sight, will he be able to see what he has always wanted? PuppyShipping! Angsty.


**Otakusama: **I suck.

**Joey: **Yeah, bitch! Go update Recalling Nothing over at Inazuma! You're new to this! You need more practice!

**Otakusama: **-Kicks Joey in the butt-

**Joey: **... ow.

* * *

**Blind **

PuppyShipping Fic

* * *

Joey Wheeler sat on a bench in the hospital's general ward.

He was waiting for his diagnosis report to come out. His eyes had been feeling sore and blurry for weeks, and after Shizuka noticed the way his was tearing and blinking, she had forced him to go see a doctor.

Yes, he was living with Shizuka and their mother now. His dad had been arrested for possession of drugs about a week ago. Not that any of his friends knew of course- he didn't want to worry them. The social had decided that he was to stay with his mother and sister.

He hadn't been that happy about it, but his mother seemed to be fine with him coming to stay, so he had accepted as well. Shizuka had hit the roof with joy, and even talked their mother to let them decorate his room. Their mother was an enviromental lawyer, and earned a small fortune every month, and so she had no problem with that.

After years of being verbally abused, having to work part-time jobs after school, things were finally looking up.

Except when his eyes had started hurting, of course.

"Mr. Wheeler, the doctor will see you now." The pretty receptionist said, typing away at the computer in front of her. He thanked her, and made his way back to the room he was at just fifteen minutes ago. The room smelled of bleach... and it was very clean. The white actually _hurt_ his eyes- it was so blinding.

He knocked on the door two times, and fingers slipping slightly on the silver knob, he pushed it open.

There sat Dr. Ebisu in his white coat and airplane-window glasses. Joey swallowed. This doctor had somewhat of an intimidating air around him. Maybe he had been an army officer before he became or doctor.

"Hello, Mr. Wheeler. Your test results are printed out and ready."

"Um... thanks."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to sit down before I tell you this."

Joey's eyes widened slightly. This was never a good sign. That and the slightly anxious expression that could be seen on Dr. Ebisu's face.

"... Is there something wrong?" Joey asked reluctantly. The doctor shifted slightly in his seat. "After the optical test, we have discovered that your eyes are... defective."

"What... does that mean?"

"..."

"Please. Tell me." Joey asked, his voice coming out strangled.

"... I'm afraid that you're going blind, Mr. Wheeler."

A stunned silence. After a few heavy seconds, Joey sucked in his breath - he had been holding it - and leaned back in his chair. He was going blind? That was hard to believe. His eyesight had been perfect so far...

"Are you sure?"

"90 percent positive."

"... What could have triggered this?"

"It seems as though some chemical fluids have penetrated your eyes. Have you been engaging in any sort of dangerous activity lately?"

Joey blinked. He hadn't been skateboarding for about a month now- he was busy with schoolwork. Yes, you read right. Joey studies. So, it would have been impossible for him to have engaged in any sort of risky sport-

"Chemistry."

"Pardon?" Dr. Ebisu asked. Joey blinked once more. "I think... it was because of that day... during Chemistry..."

_-Flasback-_

_Joey was writing down the results of the chemical experiment he and Tristan had just conducted. It was an experiment on Talfonic Acid. A senior had invented it, and the school - being proud of this acheivement - had decided to let the juniors have a taste of what this acid did. They weren't even sure of what it COULD do though, they only knew it caused irritation to the skin. _

_So they deemed it safe enough to let the younger students handle it. _

_"Cut it out, you pimp!" Tristan waved in fist in the direction of Duke Devlin, who was, alas, irritating Tristan as usual. _

_"What did you call me?"_

_"A PIMP! Oh, I'm sorry. Did I strike a nerve?"_

_Devlin was extremely sensitive about comments on his sense of fashion, especially since he had designed it himself. He threw himself at Tristan, causing the both of them to crash against the table. The tube of green Talfonic flew out of its stand and fell onto the table where Joey was writing and broke into a thousand little pieces. _

_Needless to say, the liquid went flying onto Joey's face and hands. _

_"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Joey yelped, rubbing his eyes slightly. "Don't!" Yugi grabbed Joey's hands to stop him from rubbing any more. "You should wash it out right now, Mr. Wheeler!" The teacher said. _

_Well, she wasn't all that worried. After all, the acid only caused irritation. _

_At least, that was what they _thought_._

_-End Flashback- _

Joey sighed. He had a feeling the Talfonic wasn't as harmless as he looked, but had shrugged it off. Now look. He was going blind.

"Is there a cure?" Joey asked, feeling as though there was a hole in his chest and the north wind was blowing through it. Dr. Ebisu sighed, and placed a hand on Joey's shoulder. The blond felt as though he was going to puke.

Doctors never did this if it was a piece of good knews. He braced himself mentally.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wheeler. But this acid has set off various other dangerous viruses in your eyes. There is no cure. You will have your sight for at least about a week, before you go permernantly blind."

A week was all he had.

* * *

Shizuka Wheeler looked up from the book she was reading after hearing the door open, and slam shut a few moments later.

"I'm home, 'Zuka."

She smiled. Joey was home! She knew it was extremely silly of her, but she couldn't help but feel elated whenever her brother said that. It reminded her everytime that they were together now, living under the same roof. They were reunited.

"Welcome home, nii-chan! How was the check-up? It went well, ne?"

Joey looked into her eyes, and attempted a weak smile. His eyes were dull, though. Shizuka felt a sense of dread in those eyes, and took her brother's hand gently and led him to the sofa. He tripped over the television remote, though.

'Strange. He never misses the remote...' Shizuka thought, but shook her head, returning to the situation at hand.

"So, what's wrong, nii-chan?" Shizuka asked, blinking her huge innocent eyes. Joey pressed his lips together firmly. He placed both hands on Shizuka's shoulders. "You can't tell anyone, okay?"

"I won't make any promises until you tell me what's wrong."

Damn, Shizuka was smart. Joey sighed, and leaned back into the sofa, enjoying the feel of cotton against his neck. He felt slightly more relaxed and less tense than before- the softness of the cushion eased his throbbing head.

"I'm going blind." He blurted out.

Shizuka was stunned. She simply stared at him, wide-eyed for a few moments. Then, her hands began to shake. She grasped them tightly in each other. "What?" She asked, her voice trembling and full of fear.

"I'm going blind. I won't be able to see in a week's time. Maybe less."

"How is this possible? You were perfectly fine a week ago! Is there a-"

"There is no cure, 'Zuka. I'm going blind. End of story."

Shizuka felt tears well up in the edge of her eyes. Her precious brother was going blind? He had been nothing but kind, compassionate and understanding towards anyone and everyone he had met.

Well, except for that Kaiba person. But that was totally besides the point! Her brother didn't deserve this! Who did?

"Shizuka. You can't tell _anyone_, alright?"

"Not even me?"

Joey and Shizuka shrieked (yes. Joey shrieked) and snapped their heads to where the voice had come from. It was their mother, Miho Akatsuki. She was looking at Joey with watery eyes. A few minutes earlier, she had entered through the back door. Before she called out her greetings, she heard Joey's strangled voice blurt out his status.

She couldn't believe it.

"Joey... I'll help you. Even if you become blind, Shizuka and I will stay by your side." Miho embraced Joey in a hug. The blond male felt tears roll down his cheeks. He hadn't smelled her scent in so long... it was of sunflower seeds and malted sugar.

The scent of his childhood.

"Muuum..." Joey wailed. He sobbed into her shirt, and Shizuka joined in the group hug. After seven long years, finally all was forgiven between mother and son.

They were a family again.

* * *

**I KNOW THIS IS KINDA DRAMATIC AND RUSHED, BUT ITS JOEY'S BDAY TOMORROW! I WANTED THIS TO BE FINISHED! **

**I love you Joey~ Seto will take good care of ya, I know tht. **

**PUPPYSHIPPING!**


End file.
